| Vegas/ North Rim 2003 This was a great trip, maybe the best ever because the family could do it together. Temperatures in Vegas were at least 100 degrees but on the North Rim were generally in the 70’s in the daytime and 60 at night. The exception was on the second day when the temperature at night got down into the 40’s ! All our Vegas riding started at 7:00 AM to avoid as much of the heat as possible. The trip from Vegas to the North Rim is long but you pass through very scenic areas including the Virgin Rim George, St. George Utah, and along the southern edge of Zion National Park before heading onto the Kaibab Plateau. Escape adventures provided the transportation, all the camping gear, and two of the bikes. In addition our cheerful guides, Nikki and Pete, alternated riding with us. When back at camp they did all the cooking and cleaning up. They did a great job making this a memorable vacation. While there were many great meals, Pete's steaks and homemade tortilla chips were most memorable! Riding Itinerary Day 1- Vegas- Cottonwood NORBA Loop We decided to do things in reverse. First a 40 minute climb up Hidden Valley, then down the sketchy steep hill to the intersection of Three Mile Smile. My guess is that you are about 2 miles from the top at that point. We climbed to the top keeping an eye peeled for riders coming in the other direction. We scouted out some trails behind Wilson Tank before descending Satan’s Escalator and the entire Mustang Trails all in one shot. This must be a 5-6 mile downhill. Wow…..21 miles of fun. In the afternoon, we took Althea and Laurie for their “intro ride” on the Mustang Trails. They had a fantastic time and rode nearly ten miles! No Problemo. They rode like pros. Day 2- Cottonwood Valley, Nevada We took Laurie for her first ride into the High Country . She rode awesome. With the exception of a couple sections of Satan’s and Red Rubbly Hill, she rode everything in sight and was smiling at the end. Her skills were improving by the mile and she would prove to be almost fearless on this trip.....17 miles. Day3- Jacob Lake to Marble Canyon (Grand Canyon) Amazing ride through Pondarosa pine and Aspen forest with one climb they call Mission Impossible One. It was not impossible after all and we rode it twice. At the end of the ride you are rewarded with a great view of Marble Canyon. Every person on the ride crashed on this day…..partly dure to numerous deep water bars on very steep descents. Having sliced my kneecap open, my trusty bandana saved the day. …..25 miles. Day 4-Arizona Trail North Rim Grand Canyon More fun through the forest and huge meadows finishing with a breathtaking view looking east into the Canyon. A hike along the rim was cut short by a freak hail storm with lightning. The hail piled up to about 2 inches by the time we got back to camp….25 miles. Day 5- Traversing the Kaibab plateau west to North Timp Point This ride featured a hill they called Mission Impossible Two. It was tough but not impossible. There was lots of climbing but much of it was on a beautiful doubletrack that seemed well off the beaten track. We were rewarded by a final 5 mile downhill to campsite at North Timp Point. When we got our first view of the Canyon from this side it was amazing. After dinner we did a quick 6 mile roundtrip south on the Rainbow Rim Trail to a rocky overlook. Then we all took in the beautiful sunset…...40 miles. Day 6-Rainbow Rim Singletrack (Timp-North Timp-Locust-Fence) This is one of the top ten trails I have ever ridden. I would go back to the North Rim just to do this trail again. It appears that you can make the ride even longer than what we did by going to Parissawampitts. All along the trail are amazing overlooks, many switchback climbs between viewpoints, and cool singletrack that traverses some of the plateaus. I cannot say enough about how this new trail was designed. Certainly whoever laid it out knew mountain biking- how steep to make climbs, how wide to make off-camber sections, and how to use the land to make fast natural burms. Colt and I headed out together on this trail. While the views beckoned us to stop and enjoy them…..the riding was so awesome that we usually just pushed onto the next section of trail, riding each section faster than the last. We got back to camp after the 36 miles so early that we had much of the afternoon to chill out. On one section, I let Colt go ahead and bomb a loose downhill at the edge of a ravine. I later learned that our guide Pete crashed on this section and screwed up his neck and back a bit. I was glad that Colt did not do the same! Day 7-Jeep road ride to Parissawampitts Overlook- The first 4 miles of this jeep road ride was moderately uphill. The middle section included four somewhat difficult climbs, followed by an 11 mile dirt road descent. I hit 39 mph on the descent and nearly wiped out in a tight, loose corner. It was fun but really cannot compare with the singletrack we had ridden in the days before……23 miles |
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